Oil and gas well device



Nov. 5, 1957 w. H. DE CAMP 2,312,024

OIL AND GAS WELL DEVICE Filed July 25. 1954 III! III/ll/I/l/IA 24 INVENTOR.

WILLIAM H. DECAMP ATTORNEY ii jaw 2,812,024 oh. Asa GAS WELL nnvicn William H. De'Cani'p, van Wert, Ohio 7 Application July 23, 1954, Serial No. 445,371

2 Claims. ((31.166-76) I The present invention relates to an oil and gas well device, and more particularly to a new and improved capping device foruse in controlling fluid flow from the well during the final stages of drilling.

lhcluded in the many different kinds of oil and gas wells is the gusher which presents an appreciable number of problems and difficulties which, if circumvented, would materially reduce what is now considered normal wastage of oil and gas, and absolutely prevent the incalc'ulable losses. due to fire. In the drilling of a well, the final stage of drilling may be accompanied by an explosive eruption of oil and conglomerate from the well mouth, which, in many cases, erupts with such violence and force that the heat of friction generated between well structures and the erupting fluids ignites the latter. When this occurs, the flow from the mouth of the well will continue to burn untilthe fire has been extinguished. Included in the firefighting techniques is the operation of covering the mouth of the well with a cap which shuts off the flow. As is well known to those skilled in the art, this operation of capping a well is extremely hazardous and time consuming in its accomplishment. Sometimes days and sometimes weeks pass-before the capping of a well is completed. During this time, hundreds of barrels of oil are wasted and with present day knowledge that the worlds oil supply is actually exhaustible, this costly wastage, both from an economic and conservation standpoint, presents an acute and serious problem.

This invention provides an improved construction over applicants invention disclosed in Patent No. 2,687,177. issued August 24, 1954. Among other reasons, the pres ent invention constitutes an improvement over the prior invention in that it provides more versatile control of fluid flow from a well but yet is simple in construction and less costly to build.

Other advantages will become apparent from the following description.

In view of the foregoing, it is an object of this invention to provide a capping device for a well which may be quickly and reliably operated to either shut off or alter the direction of flow of a gushing well, and to thereby prevent the loss of fluid.

It is another object of this invention to provide a capping device for a well which may be operated from a point remote from the well to direct the fluid flow alternatively between two diflerent channels or to shut the flow off entirely.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide a capping device for a well which facilitates final drilling and assembly work for simultaneously achieving complete control of fluid flow from the well and the prevention of fires.

Other objects and features of this invention will become apparent as the description proceeds.

To the accomplishment of the above and related objects my invention may be embodied in the forms illustrated in the accompanying drawings, attention being called to the fact, however, that the drawings are illus- United States Patent but not sufficiently forceful to prevent easy manipulation. V

2,812,024 Patented Nov. 5 19 57 trative only, and that specific change may be made in the specific constructions illustrated and described, so long as the scope of the appended claims is not violated.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective illustration of one embodiment of this invention;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section thereof;

Fig. 3 is a perspective illustration of the same embodiment with the outer casing removed; and

Fig. 4 is an exploded view'of the rotary valve used therein.

With reference to the drawings, the capping device, generally indicated by the reference numeral 10, is composed of an outer casing 12 which comprises two casing sections 14 and 16. The body 18 of the casing is preferably of cylindrical shape having diametrically opposite flanges extending therefrom. These flanges are composed of complementary extensions on the separate casing halves 14 and 16 as indicated by the reference numerals 18 and 20 respectively. Suitable bolts 22 are usedto secure the casing sections 14 and 16 together.

Internally, the casing 12 is provided with a straight bore 24 which intersects a rectangular recess 26 and a transverse rotary valve opening 28. The rectangular recess 26 is adapted to receive a union or core 30 having a threaded passage 32 which is registered with the casing bore 24. The cylindrical opening 28 is adapted to receive a rotary valve assembly indicated generally by reference numeral 34, this assembly being shown in more detail in Figs. 2 and 4. The upper end of the bore 24 is threaded at- 36 for a purpose which will be explained more fully in the following. s

The valve assembly 34 is composed of a rotary valve 38 (Fig. 4) of cylindrical shape and is provided with a diametral valve opening 40 and a by-pass opening 42 which intercepts the valve opening 40 on only one side thereof. The valve is separated into two collinear parts 44 and 46 diametrically of the two valve openings 40 and 42, and suitable locking pins 48 axially extending from the valve part 44 engage complementary sockets in the end of the valve part 46 for detachably securing the two parts together. The opposite ends of the two parts 44 and 46 are provided with shaft extensions 50 and 52,

respectively, each extension having a square end 54 for rotating the valve assembly by means of a wrench or the like.

The valve 38 is retained in the casing 12 by means of two externally threaded bushings 56 and 58 which are received by the casing opening 28 to engage the shoulders 60 and 62 of the two valve parts 44 and 46, respectively. These bushings '56 and 58 bear against the valve 38 with enough force to prevent accidental rotation of the latter,

Rotation of either of the shaft extensions 50 or 52 can serve to align the valve opening 40 with the casing bore 24 and the union passage 32 or in the alternative can place the by-pass valve opening 42 in registry with either the upper end 36 of the casing bore 24 or the lower end of the bore 24. ,A lateral fluid by-passing pipe 64 extends from the side of the cap 10 as seen in Fig. 1, and is arranged to register with the valve openings 40 and 42 for alternative communication with the opposite ends of the casing bore 24.

During the final stages of drilling a well, the union or core 30 is threaded on the top end of the well casing 66 as seen in Fig. 3, and the capping device 10 is clamped onto the casing 66 and core 30 to provide the assembly of Figs. 1 and 2. A suitable section of pipe 68 is thereupon threaded into upper end 36 of the bore 24, but only to an extent as will not interfere with the rotation of the valve 38. If it is desired to drop a charge of nitro glycerine to the bottom of the well, the valve 38 is rotated until the opening 40 registers with the casing bore 24 and the core passage 32. After the nitroglycerine is exploded, and the well has cleaned itself under the pres sure of a ruptured subterranean pocket of gas or oil under pressure, the valve 38 may be rotated to direct the well flow from the casing 66 out through the by-pass port 64. Alternatively, the valve 38 may be rotated to sever this flow entirely thereby shutting ofi' the well.

With the valve 38 positioned to direct fluid flow through the by-passing pipe 64, a suitable hand valve 78 may be secured to the upper end of the vertical pipe 68 and thereafter turned oif. Next, the valve 38 is turned until the passage 40 is aligned with the bore 24, thereupon the pipe section 68 is threaded through the valve opening 49 and into the threaded passage 32 of the core 33. When this is accomplished, it will be noted that the pipe section 68 is directly assembled to the Well casing 60 by means of the core 30 which serves as the coupling union. The casing 12 can now be disassembled as well as the valve 38 to leave only the joined conduit assembly 30, 68, 66.

It often occurs, that immediately following the blowing of a Well with nitroglyeerine, raw gas will flow through the well casing with such velocity that the friction produces enough heat to ignite the gas, the well thereupon burning with such velocity that it often takes many days to extinguish the fire. It obviously follows that the loss in raw material occasioned by the fire as well as the cost thereof are incalculable and contribute damagingly to the universal program of conservation of raw material.

In the use of this invention, if for some reason during the blasting or cleaning operations a fire should occur, the only requirement for extinguishing the fire is to rotate the valve 38 to a position which completely shuts off the flow, or instead by-passes the flow through the pipe 64 should the oil pressure be too great to be completely stopped. The fire is thus effectively extinguished without the loss of any appreciable quantity of oil or gas.

In the foregoing it will be apparent that by use of this invention, flow of oil or gas from the well will be under complete control at all times, and when the capping and pipe fitting operations have been completed, a part of the capping device is etfectively utilized as a section of the finished well structure.

The casing 12 as well as the valve structure may there after be used again and again, the only expendable item being the core 30.

What is claimed is:

1. An oil Well capping device comprising a core having a threaded passage, a casing clamped onto said core and having a bore in registry with said passage, and a separable control valve carried by said casing for controlling the flow of fluid through said bore, said valve being spaced from said core and having a valve opening which may be moved into registry with said bore, said valve being split diametrally of said opening and thereby separable into two parts, whereby a section of pipe passed through said bore, through said valve opening and into said core may be disassembled from said casing and said valve leaving only said section of pipe and said core assembled.

2. An oil well capping device comprising a core having a threaded passage, a casing having a straight bore and being split into two parts along the axis of said bore in such a manner that a section of pipe contained in said bore may be separated therefrom by removing said casing parts therefrom, said casing having a complementary recess for receiving said core in such position that said passage registers with said bore, a rotary valve received by said casing transversely of said bore for controlling the opening and closing of the latter, said valve having a valve opening and being split into two sections diametrally of said opening, and means detachably securing said valve sections together, said bore being threaded in the portion lying on the side of said valve opposite said core, said core passage, said casing bore and said valve opening being so arranged that a length of pipe may be threaded into said bore to pass through said opening and into said core, said casing and valve thereafter being separable therefrom leaving only the assembled core and pipe.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,784,381 OStroske Dec. 9, 1930 1,870,590 Santiago Aug. 9, 1932 2,442,548 Mueller June 1, 1948 

